Feb 9, 2011

Texas Medicine will report in March that Texas physicians reacted strongly to charges by the British Medical Journal that British physician Andrew Wakefield, MD, falsified data and committed an “elaborate fraud” in his 1998 report that linked the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine to a new syndrome of autism and bowel disease. Some of them charge that Dr. Wakefield’s actions frightened parents into refusing to have their children immunized, leading to illnesses that could have been prevented.

Even though Dr. Wakefield’s work has been discredited, some parents still fear vaccinations. To help you counter the erroneous -- and dangerous – myths about vaccines, TMA ‘s BeWise-ImmunizeSM program offers two fact sheets, Talking to Parents About Vaccines and Childhood Vaccines: Fact and Fiction, and a YouTube video, Vaccines Don't Cause Autism.

The fact sheets and video are powerful evidence that immunization works and is vital to stopping preventable diseases. Please use them to talk with your patients and parents.